Why no 3D printed trees?

[beefcake]

... But maybe for some very highly specialized trees.  Maybe...

Highly specialized such as this?
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/277777/Tree-of-the-Dead
Shameless plug, Tree of the dead, skulls falling out the hollow.

(I am in need of a better pic than that as it was put up rather quick)

[Calimero]

There are plenty of "cheap" model trees from China on eBay... But, I do wonder how they’ll look on the table and if they are strong enough to handle wargaming.

[snitcythedog]

I need a hundred cheap good looking trees (that look like trees) that will last.

Agreed with the comment above about 3d printed trees, they represent too much time and effort for too little return.  The china rout is available and you can get some good deals but I if you are looking for something a bit more realistic they may not fit the bill.  Same goes for the woodland scenic injection molded armatures.  That leaves you with either spending the money for nice manufactured trees or going old school and spending the time and effort to make them yourself. 
Instructions for the cheapest and easiest that I have made are here:
http://terragenesis.com/infopages/page425.html
Shameless plug but it worked. 
Same with horsehair and flocked:
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gxckrTj4G1g/WahJw0OHlKI/AAAAAAAABcs/5MR6_qvpeqMyU6hFaJmHCpRYq9ImzC99gCEwYBhgL/s1600/DSC06421.jpg

[redzed]

that horsehair and flocked pic looks good, do you have a link on how you did it?

[snitcythedog]

that horsehair and flocked pic looks good, do you have a link on how you did it?

I did not do a step by step.  The process goes like this.  It does not matter what type of tree you are making the steps are the same.  You tear a piece off big enough to do the whole canopy.  Tease them out with a knife or a hook shaped tool to give a patchy appearance.  Glue them in place on the trees, trim any excess, spray the canopy with contact adhesive and flock.  Over spray with clear Plastidip to seal and hold the flock in place. 
Same process as the Birch on home made Oaks. 

[redzed]

impressive, they look like trees

[Hami]

Without going into too much detail, some 3d printed trees require supports to be printed. Due to the scale/detail these trees that require supports become to attached and when you break the supports off you sometimes end up breaking the branches/twigs off so you loose a lot of the detail or you print without supports and you run the risk of the plastic dropping and sagging which means you have just wasted a lot of time and plastic as this would happen after the trunk has been printed so towards the end of the print. Hence why the files are on sale and not the product.

This would be my educated guess.

[snitcythedog]

impressive, they look like trees

Thanks.  Same wires as the birch.  Just twisted bundles covered in tape then brushed latex caulking for bark.  Added green stuff for the stumps. 
Here is the toots that I used for Pine trees too.


I ended up doing twenty for about three pounds.  I still have the jig so I can make as many more as I want.
All the flock on those is sawdust and acrylic pant. 

[Sir Barnaby Hammond-Rye]

As it says 'Why no 3D printed trees?'  if there is one thing we all need it's cheap durable trees.

As others have pointed out, commercially available trees are cheaper and probably more durable.

[Codsticker]

Couldn't you design the trees so they are printed upside down thereby removing the need for supports?

[beefcake]

Couldn't you design the trees so they are printed upside down thereby removing the need for supports?

Making multipart trees would solve this problem. Upside down would require each branch to be at the exact same height. If you printed them in one piece you'd be best to print right side up with all the branches at an angle of no less than 45 degrees, which doesn't really help with realism depending on the tree type.

[Hami]

Couldn't you design the trees so they are printed upside down thereby removing the need for supports?

As @Beefcake has already said, it doesn't really resolve the issue of using supports as all the branches etc need to be thick enough to support the whole tree and be the same height etc. I have seen some 3D Printed trees so there are people out there doing them, me personal I wouldn't really print a tree when China etc have better options for realistic looking ones.